On Crimes and Punishments

Cesare Beccarias influential treatise On Crimes and Punishments is a foundational work in the field of criminology. Based on the 1984 Francioni text, the most exhaustive Italian edition of Dei delitti e delle pene, this translated edition, the last that Beccaria personally oversaw and revised, explores three main ideas: that the social contract forms the moral and political basis of the works reformist zeal; that science supports a dispassionate and reasoned appeal for reforms; and that progress is inextricably bound to science. This translation includes an outstanding opening essay by the editors and is a welcome introduction to Beccaria and the beginnings of criminology.